The Foreign Service Journal, November 2004

N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 5 In September PBS rebroadcast a “Frontline” pro- gram called “The Man Who Knew.” It traced the career and work of an FBI agent who pursued the al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden terrorism files, his difficulties with the FBI administration, and his work in Yemen with the investigation of the bombing of the USS Cole on Oct. 12, 2000. After retiring from the FBI, the agent became chief of security at the New York World Trade Center and died there in the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001. The program was remarkable for its cheap shots at the Foreign Service and, in particular, at the career Foreign Service officer who was chief of mission in Yemen at the time of the Cole bombing. The program’s pro- ducers left the impression that the agent had waged a one-man campaign within the U.S. government against terrorism in general, and the al-Qaida network in particular. Opposing him, according to the producers, were the small-minded bureaucrats of the FBI and the compromisers of the State Department. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Hundreds of agents within the FBI worked these cases and professionals throughout the U.S. government also worked to combat al- Qaida and other terrorist organiza- tions. This particular agent held no monopoly on the truth or on the desire to protect our country and our people. In the years before the USS Cole attack, U.S. embassies, especial- ly those in the Middle East and South Asia, dealt constantly with terrorism, building relations with host govern- ments whose help has been essential to our counterterrorism efforts. The issue here comes down to this: how do we best stop terrorism? By bullying, ordering, and threatening officials of other countries or even our own compatriots who work for differ- ent agencies or disagree with us? Or by being smart in our own work and in our relations with our host countries? To quote an earlier Foreign Service Journal “President’s Views” column: “Pseudo-tough and phony-macho policies don’t beat terrorists; smart ones do.” According to all accounts, while the FBI agent (“The Man Who Knew”) carved a swath through Yemen, bullying everyone in his path, our ambassador and a host of inter- agency colleagues, including State’s own Office of Counterterrorism, sought to limit the damage he was wreaking on our counterterrorism efforts and on our mandate to estab- lish a credible joint investigation. To its credit, the Department of State understood what was at stake and confirmed the ambassador’s correct judgment. And, contrary to the “Frontline” allegations, senior officials at the FBI, the military and other gov- ernment agencies shared this judg- ment. Far from being fixated on “good relations” as an end in them- selves (as implied by the program), the ambassador had long understood the importance of being smart in fighting terrorists. It is regrettable that “Frontline” should have rebroadcast such an unbalanced piece of reporting. One would also have liked to have seen the department support one of its most experienced professionals by refuting publicly the distortions and innuen- dos against a loyal member of the Foreign Service. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. AFSA, for its part, will not let cheap shots at the Service go unanswered. Neither should the department.  P RESIDENT ’ S V IEWS An Attack on One Is an Attack on All B Y J OHN L IMBERT John Limbert is the president of the American Foreign Service Association. U.S. embassies, especially those in the Middle East and South Asia, have dealt constantly with terrorism, building relations with host governments whose help has been essential to our counterterrorism efforts.